The Sharp Notes with Evan Toth
Jun 18, 2026 · 56 min · 15 segments
Tonight we’re very pleased to welcome Nabil Ayers: a writer, podcaster, record store co-founder, label executive, musician and someone whose life and work sit directly at the crossroads of music…
Evan TothHostNo entities detected.
And from your perspective and, of course, your job, your career, what do record stores still do better than other stuff? What do they do better than algorithms? What do they do better than streaming? What do they do better than all of the music journalism placements in all of the world? What can you get out of a record store that you really can't get out of anywhere? We could
be here all night talking about this, but I could also just sum it up in one word, which is community.
And that was always the thing at the record store I worked at before Sonic Boom, at Sonic Boom, the store that my friend and I started, and at I think every single of the hundreds of record stores I've been to since then.
It's just about a place where, of course, look, you can buy a record anywhere now.
What's fun is going to 20 different record stores this year and having a reason to flip through the bins and actually finding one of the records I'm looking for, which will happen from time to time.
But more than anything, it's just like the people who work in record stores, people who own record stores, are most likely not doing it to make money.
But that's not, you know, there are other ways to make money more easily, I would imagine, these days.
So they're doing it because they like it and because they care and because they want to foster a community of people in their area who sort of share that feeling.
It's fun to listen to what's playing and instead of shazamming it, say, what is this? Which is like the ultimate compliment you can pay to a record store clerk.
It's fun to look at what other customers are looking at, even if you're not talking to them.
For me, it's fun to be around people who like the same stuff that I do, even if it's totally different music.
And even as the owner here, I learn about new music all the time from you folks, from my employees and people who are always asking.
And from your perspective and, of course, your job, your career, what do record stores still do better than other stuff? What do they do better than algorithms? What do they do better than streaming? What do they do better than all of the music journalism placements in all of the world? What can you get out of a record store that you really can't get out of anywhere? We could
be here all night talking about this, but I could also just sum it up in one word, which is community.
And that was always the thing at the record store I worked at before Sonic Boom, at Sonic Boom, the store that my friend and I started, and at I think every single of the hundreds of record stores I've been to since then.
It's just about a place where, of course, look, you can buy a record anywhere now.
What's fun is going to 20 different record stores this year and having a reason to flip through the bins and actually finding one of the records I'm looking for, which will happen from time to time.
But more than anything, it's just like the people who work in record stores, people who own record stores, are most likely not doing it to make money.
But that's not, you know, there are other ways to make money more easily, I would imagine, these days.
So they're doing it because they like it and because they care and because they want to foster a community of people in their area who sort of share that feeling.
It's fun to listen to what's playing and instead of shazamming it, say, what is this? Which is like the ultimate compliment you can pay to a record store clerk.
It's fun to look at what other customers are looking at, even if you're not talking to them.
For me, it's fun to be around people who like the same stuff that I do, even if it's totally different music.
And even as the owner here, I learn about new music all the time from you folks, from my employees and people who are always asking.
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